Motivating Mum

Giveaway Monday – Review of a service for mums in business

Tara is a delight to speak to over the phone. She has a very natural presence that put me at ease. I will admit I was very sceptical of coaching over the phone as I generally don’t enjoy long phone conversations and had great success with face to face coaching in my past.

My problem that needed to be addressed was that I was really struggling with the direction to take career wise. I have a skill set in a number of different areas and was wanting to commit to one to move forward with planning an executing which business I would be most happy in. Each of them seemed to meet different needs and have different challenges.

With the hour-long discussion with Tara we explored where my true passion is and, although I have some past judgement issues to overcome with this choice, I believe it is the right step moving forward. Tara was excellent at bringing out why this is the best choice for me to follow my true passion.

I have since purchased my business name and website address and am looking forward to a July 1st Launch towards my true passion! Thanks Tara for your guidance.

I would highly recommend a session with Tara for the clarity it provided me.

A little more on Tara Mauger, Life Coach 4 Inspired Women:

Empowered with Tara helps inspire women to reclaim their natural & authentic power in their life with such things as business/work, relationships, health, money & creating their dream life.

Reviewed by Belinda Pritchard, Sexy Products Delivered:

Sexy Products Delivered is launching July 1st 2012. Our aim is to provide quality adult products at affordable prices including a free product consultancy service to make sure you get the right products everytime!

The giveaway:

Tara is giving away a 1 on 1 one hour Goal Achieving consult where Tara will help you gain clarity around which goals to aim for first and how to achieve them – big & small – so that 2012 can be your BEST year yet!

To win, leave a comment below on what it is a goal that you would just love to achieve?

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Giveaway Monday – Review of a service for mums in business

Last week, I was giving the opportunity thanks to Motivating Mum – ta Alli, to experience a Naturopath Consultation and give a review on it afterwards.

All I can say is – Oh Poor You Naturopath Nicky – I didn’t realise and you probably didn’t realise what you had taken on! I bet you needed several Yoga poses after our little session – that was supposed to run for an hour and ended up longer after the fight with the Skype and the loo breaks! But I do feel a little better! So thank you!

Nicky Wood, Wise Healthy Living

As Mums, we tend to take on so much, and even more so over the school holidays. I usually find a school holiday with a significant Holiday weekend attached to it (ie: Christmas or Easter) usually are a teensy bit harder to cope with as you have all that HOLIDAY CRAP as well.

With this in mind – our consultation was long, it was involved and as I probably need a counsellor, as well as a chiro as well as a naturopath at the moment – ended with me feeling a teeny bit better about me – but with a bucket of direction that I want to follow through with. The question is HOW? ( PS: I also need to brush up on my time management skills and ability to say NO)

I do have my Blackmores Magnesium Supplements, I am looking forward to some Adrenal Support and I do need to take care of me – I KNOW this – but when you get to the point where even when you shout it at the people around you – they point and stare at you call you INSANE for not coping and admitting it , so you bottle it up and can’t be bothered. Oh its a vicious cycle that I want to break, and I’m scheduling a follow up face to face with Nicky The Naturopath – as GUESS what even though she is based on the Gold Coast she does come to Charlestown once a month YAY!

She was a concise as Skype would allow, she had many valid points, and she spoke the truth and from the heart. I believe that she does have something to offer me – and as sometimes the wine does not work – maybe its time to extend the budget and take some me time and spend it with her once a month while she is close at hand? In ever increasing loads – I KNOW in my heart that its time to make me time. Yet, as a Mum, Wife, Nana and Business Woman – sometimes the ME time cap slips in favour of the others.

I’m thinking that Nicky may show me how to do this ( or even give me the diet and supplements my body screams for – yes yes yes – I DO AN EXCELLENT JOB of ignoring myself!)

Its also ironic I feel that the Chiro that makes me feel comfortable is Nicky, and now the Naturopath placed in my path is Nicky. Surrounded by Nickys! The universe is telling me something! So I guess I may just shut up and listen for a change.

So bugger off Rainy Days and Mondays – you’re not going to get me down! Nautropath Nicky has been placed in my path for a reason ! And ladies who read this – its probably for you worth a consultation ( go on give yourself some me time – you deserve it!) Even if its just to re focus you on your mission so you can have all boxes ticked on the road to success. Sometimes support comes in many forms, and if you are not getting it from your immediate surrounds, it may be time to OUTSOURCE and get a second opinion.

A little more on Nicky Wood, Wise Healthy Living:

Imagine the relief you feel when you finally find a health practitioner who actually listens to your health concerns and provides grounded Naturopathic solutions and programming that are adaptable to your current financial and time limitations.  Naturopath and Corporate Speaker Nicky Wood of Wise Healthy Living offers this service to her patients as a minimum standard of practice.

Reviewed by Lyndal Johnston, Insanimum:

Lyndal Johnston is also known as Insanimum and you can follow her here www.insanimum.wordpress.com or on Facebook as Cuppy Cakes and Yummy Things or as her other alter ego as a business partner in www.letssave.com.au where the mission is to save local and online businesses – busting a butt to make it in the real word and help them navigate the marketing involved – yet at the same time putting consumers in touch with retailers and giving back to the local community.

Mother to two, wife to one, Step Mum to three and Nana to 4 – Aunty, Sister, Friend and Mentor. Life gets crazy and sometimes you need to wear your undies on the outside and laugh. Thus insanimum.

The giveaway:

Giveaway Monday offer from Nicky is an hour skype or phone consultation on how to increase your energy levels and fight fatigue.  In this session you will not only learn where your current lifestyle can improve to increase your energy levels, but will also give you a great understanding of the difference between adrenal energy and natural energy production in your body, which will equip you with better skills on how to handle stress for optimal energy preservation.

To win, leave a comment below on what you could power with the amount of energy you expend in a day – and what do you expend it on?

Hosted by Three Lil Princesses

Giveaway Monday – Review of a service for mums in business

I am a creative soul. Numbers, figures, equations and record keeping are not my strong points. In high school I did “special maths” and to this day I still get the jitters when someone asks me to work something out without a calculator. I was thereby thrilled with my good fortune to win a session with Sarah Willoughby from Willoughbys Finance Accounting & Taxation.

Sarah Willoughby, Willoughbys Finance Taxation & Accounting

I had encountered bad accountants in the past who either avoided calls or were very sketchy on details when it came to small business. It made me wonder whether I was not big enough or important enough to be their priority.

When you are starting your own business more often than not more money is going out than coming in and it can be daunting to face that reality, let alone document every single expense. Tax time has not been something I have looked forward to since I left the security of a full-time wage behind.

I had suspected for a while that I had been “neglecting” the administrative side of my business and pushing a few things under the proverbial carpet. I admit I was a little nervous before my call. Sarah however put my mind at ease and never made me feel embarassed about my current state of affairs.

Sarah specialises in accounting services for WAHM’s and was more than knowledgable on every question I threw at her. And there were many! She gave me a few simple strategies to implement (Excel spreadsheets I can manage) so that tax time was not going to be something I dreaded. Suprisingly I was pretty much on the right track and with a few suggestions from Sarah I don’t feel anywhwere near as out of control I did before speaking with her.

Sarah really knows her stuff and provided some great advice on business deductions I was not aware of even though that is the one element of tax talk that I don’t mind so much!

Business lunch anyone? If you are after financial/accounting advice from someone who is extremely knowledgable, practical and sympathetic to the challenges work at home mums face, I would highly recommend Sarah. I will definitely be getting in touch with Sarah come tax time as I know I will be in very good hands.

A little more on Sarah Willoughby, Willoughbys Finance Accounting & Taxation:

Our aim at Willoughbys is to provide individuals and small businesses with sensible affordable finance, accounting & taxation solutions. We specialise in assisting individuals meet their financial goals by minimising tax, providing budgeting advice and implementing better spending strategies.

Reviewed by Sarah Garbuio, Spin Baby:

Spin Baby specialises in cycling jerseys for kids aged 0-6 including the signature “Mini King of the Mountains” polka dot jersey, along with bikes, helmet hats, safety gear and product reviews.

The giveaway:

Sarah is giving away a budgeting and cashflow advice including an excel pro forma OR tax planning including general discussion of business deductions and business entity structure session.

To win, leave a comment below on what’s something you’d rather be doing than your accounts!

Giveaway Monday – Review of a service for mums in business

To say I was over the moon when I won a Website Effectiveness Audit by Mary-Anne of Wise Up Marketing is an understatement.

Having recently relaunched my online store I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed in regards to how to increase my online traffic and to be frank I didn’t have a clue where to start with SEO.

Mary-Anne Amies, Wise Up Marketing

Mary- Anne made very prompt contact with me via email and provided me with an outline of what the website audit entailed. The process was incredibly simple from my end all I had to give Mary-Anne was my website address. What I received in return a short few days later was a detailed analysis of my websites performance/effectiveness including:-

• Home Page Impact
• Ease of Browsing
• Indexes in name based search
• Indexes in category search
• Keyword Strategy
• TitleTag and Meta Data

Mary-Anne highlighted areas of website that required amendments/improvements and also provided me with a comprehensive easy to understand lists of strategies on how to the make the improvements.

Overall the audit has provided me with a greater insight of where my website sits online and how to increase my online traffic and web presence. I have no hesitation in recommending Wise Up Marketing and will be using Mary-Anne’s service to assist me further with my website effectiveness.

A little more on Mary-Anne Amies, Wise Up Marketing:

Wise Up Marketing are a small business with a passion for helping your small business reach its full potential by providing easy to implement, cost effective Marketing Solutions. We have over 10 years marketing experience and our consultants can help you with any aspect of sales and marketing.

Reviewed by Leah, Little Maison:

Born from the love of stylish interiors, Little Maison is the solution for parents looking to create unique and stylish bedrooms for their children. Our online store is stocked full of gorgeous linen and accessories exclusively for children including our predesigned Bedtime Bundles and Nursery in a Box collections. We also provide an Interior Styling service for those parents looking to create a unique space for their little one.

The giveaway:

Win a Website Effectiveness Audit for your business; a comprehensive report on your website uncovering how it is performing and identifying how you can optimise it to bring traffic in that is more engaged.

To win, comment below on what’s the one thing you just don’t get about websites?

Hosted by Three Lil Princesses

Giveaway Monday – Review of a service for mums in business

I wrote a press release when I first started my business in May 2010 and sent it to everyone and anyone who worked at a newspaper, magazine and radio station. I even sent it to people who perhaps had walked past a newspaper office. That was a BIG list.

I had a bit of success. I had a write up in one paper. One measly paper!!! After sending out a million billion press releases. Well, not a million billion, but sometimes it feels like that.  And that whole process sort of put me off writing a press release again.

Kellie O'Brien - MumPR

Interestingly enough, I now have writing work with a newspaper and know exactly what I want to see in a press release. But it’s the same old story, when it’s your business you can never really write about it as well as someone else.

And it’s all about that external perspective. That fresh set of eyes. And ears. Saying things out loud to someone else and have them pick up key points that you would normally gloss over or disregard.

Kellie from MumPR did exactly that. And, as a mum running her own business she completely understood when we did the over the phone consult while I had her on speaker phone as I drove into the city with a four year old in the back seat. She also completely understood when the conversation was punctuated with some “Shush honey’s” and “Won’t be much longer sweetie’s”.

And she understood my business and what I was trying to do. She popped together a media release for a new region I am moving into with my business and to be honest, as a freelance writer, it made me want to write about myself!

When I wrote my own release it felt like I was blowing my own trumpet, showing off a little. But Kellie’s release has a thoughtful angle to it and she has made me look smart and professional, and I won’t argue with that!

A little more on Kellie, Mum PR:

Mum PR gives mums the attention they deserve. As journalists and bloggers, we pitch businesses to new and traditional media through media campaigns, social media and blogger outreach

Reviewed by Penny Webb, Working Mums Masterclass:

Penny Webb is founder of the Working Mums and Mumpreneur MASTERCLASS event series and a specialist on combining all things working and mum! You can find her writing over at Sshh Mummys on the Phone and on her kikki-k monthly planner.

The giveaway:

Kellie is giving away one press release with a strong news hook written specifically for your target market. It will involve an interview, which will help strengthen your own interview skills, along with the writing of the release.

To enter, leave a comment below as to the your most news-worthy attribute, story or business success.

Hosted by Three Lil Princesses